


Bethany's Blues

by missema



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blood Magic, Circle Tower, F/M, Ferelden, Magic, Magic School, Music, Musicians, Teaching
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-02-23 07:33:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2539577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missema/pseuds/missema
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a modern version of Thedas the Lady Bethany Hawke is a mage and a musician and it's her music that brings her to the Circle Tower in Ferelden.  She's got a new job - a temporary gig, but that's how they all are.  Soon after her arrival, she catches the eye of one Florian Phineas Horatio Aldebrant Esquire, a researcher within the Circle.  When Finn is tasked to find a blood mage by the First Enchanter, Bethany offers to help him outt but she has her own agenda.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

A room full of curious and talkative apprentices looked up at Bethany, expectant as they waited. She took a deep breath - this was the first day of the survey of music course she was teaching at Kinloch Hold and she didn't want to disappoint. The words she wanted to say were half-formed in her mouth before they fled her, causing her to snap her mouth shut without uttering anything. Nerves. It was nerves, just as she always felt them preceding a performance.

If she was going to be as nervous as she would be for a performance, she should treat it like one. This venue might be a completely different scene than she was used to, but she'd sang in smoky, dimly lit bars with little more than a handspan between her and the audience. A group of young apprentice mages should be no problem at all for her.

With that in mind she approached the piano, her fingers just touching the cool smoothness of the keys but not depressing them. The room wasn't quiet yet, but she definitely had their interest - the talking had subsided to a quiet roar of whispers, wondering just what she was going to do. Her fingers made the decision for her on what to play, and they picked a lively ragtime beat, but one that might be familiar to some of the children. The room went quiet within the first few notes, and by the time she'd launched into the familiar refrain of Joplin's "The Entertainer".

She knew the song by memory, even if she sometimes had to close her eyes to get her hands to the right places. The flow of the music overtook her as it nearly always did, her love of the old piece showing in her enthusiastic playing. She embellished it a little, because what was music if there was no little bit of her in woven between the notes of the piece? When the song concluded, she was treated to a loud round of applause from her youthful audience. The few enchanters that were overseeing the room also applauded heartily, which was a nice touch, she thought. She stood up from the bench and gave her audience a small curtsey.

"Thank you. Welcome to our first class." Bethany said, the full attention of the crowd on her. All the nerves were banished, and her voice was the strong, clear one she used for addressing crowds and focusing attention on her. She smiled and most of the faces staring at her, both children and instructors alike smiled back at her.

#####

It took no time for her first two hour workshop to go by. It surprised her when it was over, but she plenty more to teach over the next twelve weeks. The room emptied slowly, with many of the participants talking to her afterwards, telling her about music they liked and wanted to learn about. Bethany smiled to herself. At least they were enthusiastic about learning. It boded well for the success of her class. Regular income rarely ever felt so rewarding.

"I didn't think you were Fereldan at first." A voice said to her, and Bethany halted in her rearranging of her stage area to look up.

The speaker was a young man, one of the chaperones she'd seen in the room earlier. He had been hanging near the back, nearly forgettable save for the pristine neatness of his green robes. They looked starched and pressed, but not uncomfortable, just very clean. It was an impressive effect - like someone wearing a tailored suit. She liked it, and from her swift assessment of the man, with his completely straight part in his hair and the way his staff was polished to a shine at the end, it fit.

"I grew up in Ferelden, we moved all across it. But my family lives in Kirkwall now." Bethany said carefully. She didn't want to trade on her sister's fame, but that meant watching her words.

"The Blight?" He asked, and she nodded. "It was a dark time, especially here at the Tower." He coughed and looked away. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself." He said when he looked back at her. "My name's Finn."

She automatically stuck her hand out and he shook it. His hands had manicured nails and were warm and soft, unlike hers with her hard calloused fingertips from playing her guitar. "Nice to meet you." She said. There was a silence after that, neither one of them quite sure what to say, and she went back to straightening her music and accessories for the next workshop session.

"We - the staff I mean - were really glad when you wanted to teach the program. We've been without a music teacher here too long." He said, picking up their conversation again.

"It was opportune." She answered. "I'd just finished up a few shows around Denerim and there wasn't much else on the horizon. Plus, the free room and board for the quarter didn't hurt your case." She said. The offer had made the decision for her. She was able to sublet her tiny flat, adding extra income to the Circle's already generous offer.

"You sing in Denerim?" He asked.

"I sing at the opening of an envelope, if it pays enough." Bethany said, grinning over at Finn. "But Denerim's the biggest city with the most bars and open mics. I like to keep working if I can."

"Yes, I suppose that does make sense." He said, more to himself than to her. "Denerim being big and all that."

"What happened to your last music teacher?" She asked, trying to keep the conversation going. It would be good to get to know her fellow mages and teachers here. She'd never been in the Circle herself, her parents preferring to homeschool both her and her elder sister Tatiana in the ways of magic. They weren't exactly wealthy enough to afford the tuition either. She could have been a day student, she supposed, but they'd never really lived too close to Kinloch Hold before. Her father had been in a Circle and didn't want his children anywhere near one, or so he said.

Finn interrupted her thoughts with his answer. "Turned into an abomination." He said simply.

"Ah. Does that happen a lot?" She asked.

"We had...troubles during the Blight." Finn responded, voice quiet and his face troubled.

"Oh, I heard about that. I'm sorry for your loss." She said automatically, not sure what else to say about it. Everyone had heard the rumors about the Circle of Ferelden and the failed uprising during the Blight. She just hadn't realized that some of the stories might be true. It must have been horrible to witness, and she shuddered at the thought.

He waved a hand at her. "That's why so few people want to come teach here, even if it's only for a workshop or survey course like yours. Many people are afraid of mages. We're glad to have you." 

"Well, I don't relish the thought of becoming an abomination, but I'm not afraid of mages." She said, and conjured her own little ball of energy to display her own power. 

"I hadn't realized." Finn said, perking up as she let the ball fade into nothingness. "You never studied here, I would have recognized you."

"No, I was homeschooled with my sister. My father taught us. I'm registered as a mage, but not certified." She said, explaining away the main reason why she didn't try to make her teaching position permanent. She'd have to be certified as a demon-free mage by the Chantry, in other words, be put through a Harrowing. She didn't intend to stay long enough for that to become an issue. As much as she appreciated the money and liked children, she loved performing more than teaching. "So you went to school here and now you're an instructor here?" 

"I don't teach." Finn said quickly. "I'm a researcher. But I started out as a day student and then begged my parents to let me switch to boarding." He chuckled. "I thought I was missing out on so much. I guess in a way I was."

She laughed, and he smiled at her. Finn was handsome when he smiled, it took the serious edge off his fastidious robes and demeanor. Somewhere deeper in the Tower, a sound that was between a bird call and a shrill alarm sounded. She looked around, but there was nothing making the noise in the room. 

"That's the lunch bell for the first period of lunches." He explained. "You'll get used to the schedule. Your next workshop will be in an hour, you should go eat in the staff room. The food isn't bad here." He said, pointing in the general direction of where she needed to go.

"Are you coming?" She asked, but he shook his head. 

"Can't, I have a meeting with the First Enchanter in about five minutes. But tomorrow, I'm free. We'll have lunch then and you can tell me how your first day went." He said, then added quickly, "If you want." 

She smiled at him again and he smiled back quickly, with a warmth that put her more at ease. Some of her earlier nerves must have come from being confronted with such a new and strange place. "Sure. Just tell me how to get to the dining room again." There had been a brief tour when she first arrived, but Bethany didn't quite remember it all through her worry about her lessons and the tiredness of travel. A storm had delayed her crossing the water, so she had little time to actually settle in at the tower before she began teaching. 

He gave her directions and left, and Bethany put her hand on the wards around her area to activate them before leaving herself. This school was a maze of old hallways and dusty rooms, but she found she rather liked it as she made her way through them. It wasn't bad at all, and by the end of her time, she'd have enough cash for another recording session. She was looking forward to that most of all.

#####

Finn did have to meet with the First Enchanter, but he didn't want to go. He wanted to keep talking to the lovely musician and mage that surprised him by starting out the class with one of his favorite songs.

It had made him unexpectedly homesick, a feeling he'd thought banished a long time before. The song reminded him of times at home with his parents, of watching plays with his mother when she went through her community theatre phase. He'd loved the lights, the music, the sets and costumes, the spectacle of it all. Her song had taken him back to those dusty memories and made them vivid again.

The memories were lovely, though not as bright as Bethany herself. There was something about her that was sorely lacking in the Tower, a luminescence that came from just her. There weren't many new faces around the tower unless they were apprentices, certainly no beautiful women that worked as lounge singers. It was a change from their normal, mostly Chantry-related, visitors to Kinloch Hold, and a welcome one in his eyes.

His feet dragged along the stone hallway, taking him without thought to Irving's office. He'd spent so much time there in the past - discussing research, turning down a teaching post in favor of his researcher position, talking about articles to be published - that his mind was free to wander without fear of losing his way. His focus was on Bethany, just thinking back on how she looked, with her long, dark curls and simple white shirt and blue jeans. She had on a pink scarf around her neck and a brown belt that matched the flat, knee-high boots she wore, but despite the simplicity of each of her pieces, she didn't look at all plain. Her lack of robes stood out in, and he had a feeling that she wouldn't be wearing them even if she was a mage. 

All of that hadn't escaped his notice, but neither had her beautiful face. She was somewhat familiar, the deep tawny skin and amber eyes, but his mind refused to cooperate with his feeling that she wasn't entirely a stranger to him. It was an odd feeling, because he'd never before known a mage outside of the Circle, not one that had grown up completely free, as she said she had. He liked her hands, the quick and nimble hands that danced up and down the piano keys, that fluttered when she spoke and kept a rhythmic beat against her thigh when she needed it. All of her intrigued him. A mage and musician - and just earlier that week he'd been wondering if he had any right to call himself a mage and scholar when he felt he wore the first title like an albatross around the neck and the other as a refuge.

"Finn, please close the door behind you." Irving said as he crossed into the office. Complying, Finn pulled the heavy wood door shut, pushing it into place. There was no one in the room save for him and Irving, and the First Enchanter looked unusually grave.

"Is there something wrong, First Enchanter?" Finn asked as he took a seat in front of the desk that Irving sat behind.

"Indeed there are many things, but I will get to that. What did you think of our debut musical session this morning?"

"Very good." Finn piped up readily. "I think Bethany will become very popular around here."

Irving nodded, warmth glinting in his tired eyes. "I hope so. We're sorely in need of music around here, even if we could only get her to stay for the quarter. But that isn't why I've called you here, Finn."

"I didn't think so, First Enchanter." Finn smiled at him, thought he would like to do nothing more than ask him about Bethany, to try and find out more about her. But he couldn't decide if that was the proper thing to do or to wait to ask the woman herself. The grin stayed on his face, but he didn't realize it until Irving started talking again.

"I have suspected for some time that there is a blood mage among us, and this time it isn't one of the apprentices." He said gravely, his words wiping all trace of a smile from Finn's face.

"Are you sure?" Finn asked, more out of reflex than anything else. He was sure the First Enchanter wouldn't have said it without solid proof, but it was alarming to hear. 

"Yes, I've been investigating for some time. The problem is that I cannot ascertain which individual it is. Unlike with Jowan, I don't have any eyewitnesses coming forward." Irving sighed. "The last thing we need is another uprising here. The templars already advocate a more restrained system for mages. Just a few words placed in the wrong ears and we're back to being locked up in the Tower like in the bad old days." 

Finn was nodding as Irving spoke, but realized he hadn't gotten around to telling Finn why he'd told him about the suspected blood mage. "What do you need from me? Am I a suspect?" He asked in horror.

Irving managed another small grin. "Not at all. In fact, I need your help if I am ever to determine who the blood mage is. Surely with all your skills and knowledge of the Circle, you can help." Then Irving did grin properly at him, though it was tired. "You might get Miss Bethany to aid you. She might have a perspective that you could use. Though I am loathe to let an outsider see the worst of the Circle, I think she would be amenable to assisting in the matter."

"Why...would you think that?" Finn asked, curiously.

"She comes from a good family." Irving said breezily, evading the question. "But it doesn't matter. I regret that I have little in the way of written research to give you, but I can tell you some of what I already know."

Finn came away from the First Enchanter's office amazed at the sheer brazenness of whatever fool soul had started using blood magic in the tower. He thought about people, faces, temperaments as he walked down the hallway towards the music room. Less than five minutes ago a bell had rung throughout the building, and he was sure Bethany would be back in her classroom, if she'd found her way without getting turned around in the labyrinthian corridors. Paying no attention to his rumbling stomach, he walked back into the music room where he'd started the morning, and was met by Bethany's smile. Finn couldn't have asked for a better hello. It almost put the impossible task from the headmaster and blood mages out of his mind, but not completely. 

When he lunched with her tomorrow, he'd judge for himself whether Irving was right. Maybe he'd find her willing and able to help him, but he doubted it.


	2. Chapter 2

The Circle was a novelty for Bethany, but not in the way she'd expected. The people, other mages, the tranquil and the templars, were oddly accepting of her and it put a lump in her throat. It was so strange to be so warmly welcomed as what she was, and not needing to prove that she wasn't a danger. They took her at her word, though she knew if she stayed longer the templars would certainly want to harrow her. She'd never ever considered blood magic, and at the moment since she was already at the Circle, a harrowing didn't seem like such a terrifying idea. All the mages around her had gone through it. Finn had obviously come through his fine. But then again, if she did give in to the Templars she'd be playing by their rules and she'd had more than enough of not living life on her own terms.

She wanted to leave Kirkwall the minute they arrived. Their small, battered family was still together when their boat pulled into the Gallows, but she hated every minute she'd breathed in that place. Carver had taken his anger and turned darker, more sullen with every breath of fetid air, and Tatiana had done what she'd always done and tried to make the best of it for them all. With a healthy dose of stupidity and fearlessness, mixed right along with her plans, as always. 

There was a time, after Ferelden when she felt so numb, so out of it, that she just listened to whatever anyone else said. Carver grumbled as he always had, but he followed their older sister as Tatiana took up the reigns she'd inherited from their father. Her twin, Carver, had found purpose elsewhere. After an accident during a scheme to make money, he'd joined the Grey Wardens and flourished, leaving their family for the ancient order. Tatiana was still seeking out ways to gain coin and influence in Kirkwall, where their mother had a title. Bethany had been all alone.

It was then that she returned to the music that had always been part of her life. In the early years, the times of nomadic childhood where they moved to suit the career of their father, Bethany always found solace that Chantry. The Chant of Light had been one of the first things she'd learned to sing, the verses well suited to her melodic voice. Spiritual music was all fine and good to learn - it could train the voice well, but it was by no means her favorite.

She loved jazz. It was a deep and abiding love to music that soothed and moved her spirit. Despite the well-intended coddling of her family, her life was never as fulfilling to her as it was when she stood in front of a microphone. That she happened to like the other parts of performing - writing, being part of the nightlife, and getting home at dawn with tips folded into her garters - that was a bonus.

The music gave her freedom, not just through the expression but by the life it enabled her to live. She sang and lived freely more in Denerim than she had in all her previous time in Ferelden and far more than her confused year and a half in Kirkwall. If lovers left her rooms in the afternoons to prepare for nightly performances on another stage, no one judged her. When she stood off stage and drank her water, letting energy flow through her before she began her set, no doubt crippled her, no voices of the past expressed worry and fear. It was her life with its ups and downs, and Bethany let it take her where it willed, just because it felt so good to do so, most of the time.

She wanted fame and success, but not excess. Her drinking was moderate, because she found that whatever looseness it gave her, it also took away her edge. The house never came down around her on nights when she'd had a few before stepping on stage. Any lovers she took understood her life and the parts that could easily take her from their grasp. There was always another stage, a recording booth, or a new band to sing with. Taking off an axiom of the first person she'd ever slept with, she remembered to bend in the fair winds. It had served her well so far.

It was night, deep and velvety outside her tiny window at the Circle Tower. Even though it was her third night in the strange surroundings, she couldn't sleep. The night called out to her for song, for mischief, for something other than sleeping and quiet, which was driving her nuts at the moment. Even her visits back to Kirkwall, as few and brief as they'd been, had nights more exciting than these. Before she'd come to her rooms, she'd wandered around to see only a few people in the library, mostly students studying for their endless exams. The templars had a game of cards going, but she declined their offer to join. She left the templars to her sister, in all matters, since Tatiana seemed to like them so much.

To allleviate her boredom, Bethany drew out her own cards from a pack and shuffled them. The act and sound of it calmed her, and she let her mind wander back to the afternoon. Finn had found her again, and took her for the promised lunch. No one else that was near to her age was talking to her yet, save for a few curious questions by some of the mages she'd sat with at dinner the previous night. 

Finn led her to a apprentice-run store area that carried boxed lunches and taken her to a quiet table after getting her a cup of tea to go along with the little lunch. His face was more pinched and tense than it had been when they'd talked in the morning.

"How was it yesterday?" He asked.

"Pretty good. I have most of my lessons planned for the first month, just have to tweak them to each class." She said.

She had three classes of beginners and one advanced class. The advanced class was a motley group, ranging from students who knew just enough to be bored with the beginners to those that saw private instructors.

He asked her about her students, sharing his own anecdotes and insights about them when she pointed out a few more memorable moments. While she was grateful for the company, she could sense this was about more than just being friendly. There was a tension about him that conveyed its presence in his wandering attention and lack of questions. She waited, and when a lull came in their conversation she sipped her tea instead of launching into more stories.

Finn furrowed his brow as he thought not bothering to fill the silence between them. Finally, when she was beginning to think that it may not have anything to do with her after all, he spoke.

"I know we've just met, but I was wondering if I could get your help with something." Finn started, but Bethany held up her hand.

"Look, I'm sorry. I don't know any producers or anyone at a record company. I just sing in bars and sometimes scrape together enough to record more songs to put up for sale online."

But where she expecting disappointment, all got was Finn's bemused stare.

"I'm sorry, but what?" He asked.

"Weren't you going to give me a demo?" She asked back.

"No, I was going to ask if you wouldn't mind helping with some research I'm doing. For the First Enchanter."

Both of them were thrown by the reaction of the other. Finn, flustered, tried to recover his thoughts by looking away from her and taking another bite of his sandwich. Despite his explanation, Bethany was still wary. 

Her eyes narrowed unconsciously as she sat back in her chair. Arms folded across her chest she asked, "what kind of research?"

"Um, maybe I should wait and explain it to you later. It's just something I was handed yesterday." He stammered out the paltry explanation, red in the face.

She felt chagrined by his back pedaling. "Is it important? I mean, I'm not opposed to helping you." She said, fumbling her own words.

Finn stood up. "No, I think I need to do some work on my own first and figure it all out." She saw him closing up, his face was no longer warm and interest, but drawn and distressed. The remnants of his meal were rapidly being folded into the container it came in, even though the lunch hour was only half gone.

"I'll see you tomorrow. I hope the afternoon's classes go well." Finn said.

Bethany tried to catch his hand but he deftly twisted out of her grasp, in a move that reminded her suddenly of Isabela. "Wait."

"Can't." He replied shortly, then seemed to think better of it. "I'll see you tomorrow." He repeated, and then strode purposefully away from her.

She replayed the scene over and over in her mind, wondering what Finn had truly wanted, and cursing her short-sightedness. The whole thing had an awkward, out-of-sync tenor to it, as if they' debentures permanently stuck out of tune. Looking back on it, Bethany wondered now if he'd been trying to ask her out. She had made a horse's ass out of it, hadn't she? 

Fatigue fell over her, as complete and heavy as if it were a velvet cloak. She put the cards on her nightstand, careful to keep them together. Varric had given her the deck as a parting gift when she left Kirkwall, for luck. Tomorrow, she would find Finn again and they'd get the conversation right this time. 

#####

Finn's shortcomings were all gathered towards the forefront of his mind two mornings later, turning his breakfast into sawdust in his mouth. Bethany had thrown him with her bristled reaction and he had been too flustered to recover at all. Of course she would be suspicious of him - they'd just met and he was already asking her for favors. Interpersonal skills had never been his forte, but up until yesterday he would have said that he did well enough.

'Well enough' was a lie, and he saw it too clearly in the weak light of a dull morning. If he did well enough, he wouldn't have had to barricade himself in the library, seething with annoyance at his own ineptness. Part of him had been tempted to seek her out again that same day just to explain, but the words jumbled in his mouth. To make matters worse, he dreamed of her that night. When he woke it was twisted in his own sheets, hard as a rock and wishing he could remember more than snatches of his dream. It added another element of strain to the problem of salvaging their fledgling relationship.

Plus he knew nothing about her, save for the few things two days acquaintance could reveal and the assurances of Irving that she would be a help in his search. He had at least figured out why Irving had been so insistent on his own. Bethany was Lady Bethany Hawke of the Amell family from Kirwall. Her mother was the current Lady Amell, though how she came to reclaim her title after years absentia was a matter of hot gossip and debate. Her sister was Tatiana Hawke, who seemed determined to make a name for herself as some kind of modern day heroine and got into all sorts of deeds in that pursuit. Most of the mages in the tower were eager to talk about their newest staff member and her family, but no two seemed to know much about either. Whenever Finn asked, whomever he was questioning usually turned the queries back on him and he gave up. It seemed he knew her best of all, and he barely knew anything.

"Avoiding me?" A quiet voice asked in his left ear. When Finn looked up, it was Bethany, who was carefully sitting down in the empty spot next to him.

"Yes." He answered honestly and was rewarded by a deep chuckle that sounded wonderfully sweet and dirty at the same time. It made him smile unconsciously, easing the tension between them.

"Admittedly, it was only until I figured out how to approach you again. It was more like regrouping." Finn said, earning another laugh from her.

"Well then, should I let you regroup or shall we press on?" Bethany asked.

He thought about it as she started eating, attacking the fruit in front of her as if she were starving. She had a modest plate of food, all fruit and cereal. It was nothing like the teetering stack of cinnamon griddle cakes he'd piled up for himself.

"I did notice that you'd started skipping my classes and falling asleep atop books in the library." She said.

"It was just until I figured out what I needed to do." Finn explained. "I promise you I'm not somewhere perfecting a mixtape to slip you."

Bethany laughed again the sound loud even in the crowded dining hall, cutting through the din like the melodic peals of a trilling bell. She didn't speak but waited for him, her breakfast occupying the the silence between them.

"How are you at solving mysteries?" Finn asked.

"Fair enough, I guess. My sister certainly stumbled her way into enough of them when we got into Kirkwall proper. Usually me or Carver was dragged along with her to figure it out. Carver's my twin brother." She said, quelling his curious look before he could get out the question.

"Then I definitely could use your help with this...investigation." Finn said, leaning in close to her. "There's a blood mage about, and I've got to find out who before it's too late."

Bethany's fork dropped to her plate with a clatter that was quickly swallowed in the noise of a hundred voices talking and eating and scraping knives against plates.

"Are you sure?" She asked, unintentionally thinking about Merrill back in Kirkwall. 

"The First Enchanter is."

She drew in a breath and looked away from him, down at her plate but not really looking at the food. He watched her blink a few times, and he hoped that she wasn't crying or angry with him. When she turned back to him, she met his eyes with a hard, serious look of her own.

"Alright, I'm in." She said and he gave her his widest, warmest smile.


End file.
